1st Day of School - August 11th, 2010

It was hard for me to believe that it was already time for school to start, and even harder to believe I have a 2nd grader! The summer really flew by and I felt like I hardly did anything with my kids, I wasn't quite ready to give up the care free summer days, but the day came anyway. (And school starting on August 11th did not help! Really, who's idea was this?!) Pierce wasn't thrilled for school to be starting again, until we met his teacher, thank goodness for that! We both loved her right off, once he met her and saw his new classroom, he was ready to go!

Sweet Sister sure loves her big brother!

More excited about his new "Bumblebee" backpack than anything else!


I was happy that Pierce still wanted me to come have lunch with him on the first day. Madi was thrilled, she loves going to have lunch with Brother! Unfortunately, by the time we found Pierce he was done eating so we didn't actually get to eat with him. He had scarfed down his sandwich and was already out to recess! At least I was able to grab him for a picture...

Pierce with best friend Grant

Madi was sad she didn't get to eat with Brother, so we headed back to the lunch room in hopes we could eat with Matthew.
We were lucky to find sweet Brooke, (big 3rd grader!) Here she is with her two cute friends.

Luckily we found Matthew (1st grader) in time to eat with him, and even better, he was super excited to have us eat lunch with him! Love this kid. And love that he is excited to see "Aunt Josie" at school. I hope I get a few more years of this.

Of course, Todd was no where to be found, I knew he had scarfed down a few bites of his sandwich and ran out to recess, that's Todd. I was wishing I had been able to find him for a picture but didn't think much of it. I went home and called Crystal and gave her my report from lunch time, the kids were having a great day. I just laughed about not being able to find Todd, knowing he had bolted out as fast as he could to play. Just hours later Todd's accident happened. Later I was cringing, just wishing I could have seen him at lunch that day, given him a hug like I did Brooke, and especially snapped a 1st day of school picture of him. I was so upset, just wishing I could have seen him for just 1 minute that day. Just 1 minute for a hug and a picture. What I wouldn't give. I just have to make myself think- because it's Todd, and grabbing a few bites and running out the door to play IS Todd.

What a whirlwind the 1st day of school turned out to be. The first day of 1st grade, 2nd grade and 3rd grade for 3 sweet, special kids. And one day of 3rd grade for one very special little boy. We will never forget this day.

Everyday is important, every moment matters.

One Last Party

This night was a little piece of Heaven for our family. And what seemed at the time like just another fun party with the cousins, was truly a little miracle for us.

Monday August 9th, two days before school started... My two sisters in law, Crystal and Carolyn, and I decided we needed to get the kids together to celebrate Grandma's birthday (which she was out of town for on Sat.) and to have one last get together with the kids before school started. Monday night was perfect for a family night cousin party, and party they did. We had a great BBQ at Jeff & Crystal's house, enjoyed some great food and scruptious desserts. And then the kids had a complete ball being silly and getting drenched in an impromptu water party. You can just see the fun...

Cousin Logan at the sprinkler, Matthew and Todd under the red umbrella and Pierce and Madi under the purple

Us Mom's got a kick out of their little water game!

Kelton and Todd (in his very cool Darth Vader swim shorts), Pierce and Madi, and Thatcher and Matthew in there too



They had so much fun playing together getting drenched in the process, but the umbrellas sure made it a lot more fun! Since they were all soaked we had them stand at the door when it was time to sing "Happy Birthday" to Grandma.
This picture is pure joy. I wish I could rewind this moment and capture each moment of all their happy little faces. Our last party with Todd, our last time to play with him. I am so thankful we had this night together as cousins, aunts, uncles and Grandma and Grandpa. I wish I would have squeezed that little Toddy goodbye and told him I loved him. How could I ever have imagined it would be the last time we'd see him. I guess I wont be saving any hugs and loves for the next time with any of these little ones who are so dear to me.

And speaking of little ones who are dear to me, I had to add in this one I snapped of Brooky that night. Oh, I love this girl.

In Loving Memory

Todd Jeffrey Hall January 29th, 2002 - August 12th, 2010

There are no words to describe the heartbreak I have felt over the last week and a half watching my dear sister in law go through the loss of her little boy. I feel my own sadness and heartache for the loss of a darling nephew and favorite cousin to my kids. But my own sadness seems insignificant compared to what I have felt for Crystal. My heart seems to have broken a thousand times over the last week. I feel as though her pain must be the sadness I have felt over my Mom's death multiplied ten times. I cannot imagine having to bury my son at 8 years old. I want to write down my thoughts and feelings, but most are too much for my blog (don't want all my friends to be so entirely bummed you never want to see what's happening with us again:) So here is just a small glimpse of the week in pictures...

The morning after Todd's passing, Ryan and I spent the morning with Jeff, Crystal and the kids. Brooke had written this note out on the back patio.

I made this sign to hang in their yard and painted the kids hands so they could each put their hand prints on. Todd's cousins Bridger, Pierson, and Madi, Brother Matthew, cousin Thatcher, and twin sister Brooke. Yes Madi has her shirt off along with the boys. They were completely filthy and wet when we left, but this week it was- anything goes. At least the kids were having fun.

My wonderful sister in law, DeAnna, made this wreath from Todd's siblings. Brooke and Matthew loved picking out candy for Todd. It was the sweetest thing!

Darling displays of Todd for the funeral and viewing (also put up by wonderful DeAnna)





The funeral was beautiful, uplifting and completely heartbreaking all in one. What a tribute to a very special little boy.


Todd's Dad, Jeff, and Uncles Ryan, Mark, Steve and Gregg


After the dedication of the grave we released red (Todd's favorite color) balloons...


So perfect.


My Madi putting a flower on Toddy's casket

Sweet Brooke- my heart breaks even more for her to lose her twin brother




The Beautiful Hall Family - Jeff, Crystal, Brooke, Matthew, Harrison and Baby Dallin, beside their precious Todd (glad that Matthew thinks all is well)



Ryan and I wanted to do something special from the aunts and uncles and cousins, we thought a train was perfect for Todd. I was happy it turned out so great!

We went back to the cemetery in the evening after Todd was buried, here is Brooke and Matthew on the Todd train

Now that the funeral is over is seems so unreal. Like it was all a bad dream. I can't believe little Todd is really gone and that Crystal has lost one of her twins. I am so thankful for the blessing of temple marriage and eternal families. Jeff and Crystal have been so amazingly strong this week, they have been so uplifted and I know Heavenly Father has blessed them greatly. Because of the gospel of Jesus Christ they will get through this, we all will. Although the knowledge we will be with our families forever is a great comfort, we still have to get through the rest of our lives with out them. This is the hard part. We know he is with Jesus and he is happy, but even so, the weeks, months and years to come will be hard and full of tears for the loss of this precious little boy.

WE LOVE YOU TODDY!!!

Our sweet, energetic, silly, little nephew, Todd- was taken from this life, hours after a traumatic accident where he suffered a major head injury. Our hearts are broken and as devastated as we are, we can not begin to comprehend what his parents- Ryan's sister, Crystal, and her husband Jeff- are feeling after such a loss. How grateful we are for the blessings and knowledge of eternal families, but how sad we are now for the loss of our little Toddy! We love you Todd!

To my dear friends, Please include the Robison and Hall Families in your prayers. Much love to you all, and may we all hold our little ones a little closer, kiss them a little more and tell them we love them every chance we have!

My Gorgeous Girl

I just have to post a few of my favorites from Madi's 4 year pictures....





Don't know how I lucked out to get such a beauty!
My amazing friend, Staci, takes our pictures and as I've mentioned before, we love her! She does such a beautiful job! Thanks again Stace!
You can see her work at www.stacidphotography.blogspot.com

Our Pioneer Day Birthday!

My sweet little boy turned SEVEN on the 24th of July! Wow, seriously. How is time going by so fast?! I guess time flies when you're having fun, and generally there is plenty of fun around here.

Pierce had a great birthday. He had been counting down the days and could not wait for the big day. Anticipation of birthdays is one of my favorite things for my kids. They are just SO excited! He and Madi both woke up bright and early ecstatic for the big day- we started the morning with our traditional breakfast muffin. A favorite of Pierson's.


Then it was off to the Pioneer Day parade, which the kids loved (good thing they are easy to please, there was not much to it.) They had fun sitting with Grant and Annie and cousin Jackson.

Madi, Annie, Grant, Jackson, Pierce

And then it was on to races! Pierson LOVES the races! There are lots of perks that come with having your birthday on Pioneer Day- parade, fireworks (although unfortunately not this year) and the races! He was almost as excited to race as he was for his birthday! First here is a look at Annie and Madi racing with the 4 year old girls...

Annie was all business and ran so hard, she beat Madi by quite a ways, Madi cracked me up prancing along with a little smile on her face. Love it.

Pierce's race was so great, these pictures speak for themselves...


He was so proud of himself, he knew he had won, and by quite a bit! He loves to run, he definitely didn't get that from me. Way to go Pierce!

Then it was home to get ready for the big "Star Wars" Party! He had 9 friends come and they had a ball playing "Jedi, Jedi, Sith" and Musical Chairs- to Star Wars Music. Of course the pinata was a hit! It's always the highlight of our parties and this year was no exception, except they busted it open before all the kids even got a turn! I've been making them this way since Pierson's 4th birthday and it was a sudden realization to how big he is, that my good ol' pinata isn't going to work anymore. I've got to come up with another method for next year.


Present Time! So many fun gifts from his great buddies! He is in Heaven with all the cool new toys he got!

Cake Time!

Our great little party guests: Brooke, Todd, Luke, Cameron, Matthew
Grant, David, Jace, Pierce, Joey, Madi

Pierce shares his birthday with cousin Jackson, who was turning 4. They had fun playing and exchanging gifts during the afternoon.

That evening we had a great get together with our wonderful friends the Woodburys and the Houskeepers. The kids went wild playing and us Moms and Dad enjoyed delicious food and lots of fun too. It was so crazy I didn't get any pictures of the kids, but we all had a fun evening. By the time the 2nd party was over, it was time for bed. But we stayed up a little longer for a few more surprises...

New Bike from Mom and Dad!

Episode 4! Wahoo! This was one excited, happy birthday Jedi!

And just a little side note, Pierson loves this shirt which says, "I've got an awesome Dad." The day before his birthday he got dressed and came out and told me, "I'm saving my awesome Dad shirt for my birthday." He loves his Daddy so much and loves wearing this shirt to show it off, what a sweet boy!